


High School Division, Class 1-Z

by psiten



Category: Gakuen Tokkei DUKLYON | Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders, Tokyo Babylon
Genre: CLAMP School, Comedy, Crack in that it's fairly standard for Duklyon, Crossover, Fluff, Gen, High School, Possibly Pre-Slash Duklyon Boys, Sumeragi Subaru is Very Busy and Misses Lots of Classes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 23:10:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psiten/pseuds/psiten
Summary: "So in order to find the derivative of the function--" the teacher had been saying when a loud beeping went off. Takeshi looked around, just like Kentarou was doing, for a sign that the Imonoyama Shopping District Association was trying any funny business, but what they saw instead was Sumeragi jumping halfway out of his seat, clutching a beeper.Sumeragi Subaru misses so many classes that most students don't know anything about him except for his name. That doesn't stop Higashikunimaru Kentarou from making theories about their mysterious classmate, or Shuukaidou Takeshi from wishing Kentarou would shut up about them.Or: a piece of CLAMP Crossover Fluff based on the actual canon fact that Subaru is listed as being in Class 1-Z, just like some other people we know.





	High School Division, Class 1-Z

**Author's Note:**

> This little plot bunny jumped at me while my friends and I were prepping for the CLAMP Multiverse meta panel we're doing at Otakon this year, and just would not leave me alone until it was written! The fact that Subaru is canonically in the same class as the Duklyon boys is one of my favorite pieces of trivia, so I hope everyone gets a kick out of this. (And if you're going to be at Otakon 2018, feel free to drop by our panel on Friday! I'm running "So You Think You Can CLAMP" with KnightArcana, Vantasticmess, and KikukaChan!)

     Takeshi was trying to focus on reviewing his notes from last week since they had a test coming up this afternoon -- _trying_ \-- but the instant he heard a very particular squeal from the seat next to his, his dreams of scholarship were over for the morning. Kentarou had a lot of annoying habits, but only one fixation that caused that particular sound. Grinding his teeth, Takeshi tried to focus anyway.

      _Tried._

     "Oh my god, Takepon!" Kentarou hissed, somehow both leaping on top of Takeshi's shoulders and managing to talk directly in his ear by some miracle of contortion. "Takepon, _he's here today_! Look!"

     Thanks to his partner physically turning his head, he did, in fact, look at the front of the classroom. Half of their classmates were looking the same way instead of minding their own business, even though students being in class shouldn't have been a spectacle. Then again, even Takeshi had to admit, this student was special. The person bowing to the teacher was a young man in a suit too stylish for anyplace but the runway, with a face that (he had to grudgingly concede that Kentarou wasn't exaggerating) looked like an angel's, and green eyes you couldn't look at without either wanting to cry or wanting to hug a bouquet of flowers. In a sincere voice, the young man (he definitely looked male today) was offering an explanation about how he had to leave immediately after morning classes and his thanks for the teacher letting him attend at all.

     The Class 1-Z cryptid, Sumeragi Subaru.

     Well, the last thing Takeshi wanted to start his day was yet another breathless torrent of speculation from Kentarou about why the kid missed so many classes, why the teachers put up with it, why he almost never wore the school uniform, and most particularly whether he was the same person as the high society queen who once strutted in to ask for Sumeragi's homework when he'd been absent for two weeks straight. Sure, the boy and the socialite had the same face, but Takeshi still said there was no way the quiet, polite Sumeragi was the same person as that lady. Kentarou, ever the soul of logic, insisted, " _Yeah, but you never know!_ It could be like... a thing!"

     That had been the start of Kentarou's second favorite theory: that Sumeragi was a world-renowned kabuki star attending CLAMP School under an assumed name, who no one recognized because of the outlandish make-up he wore onstage. Nevermind that there were no big kabuki stars unaccounted for ("That's why it's a secret!"), or that a life in the theater wasn't known for its sudden emergency calls out of class ("Duh! Last minute understudies!") or for its early mornings ("Well, they've got to rehearse sometime!"). Nothing could stop Kentarou from looking for reasons why Sumeragi might be stage famous. But that wasn't his favorite theory.

     His favorite theory, of course, was that Sumeragi was _just like them_ : a superhero fighting for peace and justice against the forces of evil. Takeshi would have loved to tell Kentarou that superheroes weren't actually a real thing, but their mission as Campus Defenders Duklyon made that... _complicated_.

     And now Kentarou, still perched on his head, was crooning, "Oh, I hope we get to battle evil by his side someday!" while Sumeragi took his seat -- the one right next to the door, where he could leave at a moment's notice without disturbing the class too much, because whatever his deal was, the school was both willing to work with it _and_ protect his privacy.

     "How many times do I have to tell you?" Takeshi sighed. "If he were a superhero, we'd know, because he clearly isn't maintaining a secret identity. Whatever he gets to leave for, he doesn't have to lie to the teacher about it like we do. You watch all those shows. Superheroes always have to lie about their identities."

     Kentarou jumped down to the floor at last, taking pity on Takeshi's aching shoulders. "You know, that's true. A traditional superhero can't tell authority figures what he does, because he's operating outside of the law..."

     Burying his face in his hands, Takeshi groaned. "Oh no..."

     "But Sumeragi has a license to operate freely! What if he's _not_ a superhero like us? What if he's a _super-spy_?! Like, for the government? Taking on official tactical messes that ordinary administration can't handle?!"

     "Would you just sit down and shut up?"

     At least he paid attention when the teacher banged his gavel on the desk and yelled for order. He always had to do that to start class on days when Sumeragi was there. The only person who didn't seem to notice the fuss was Sumeragi himself, who probably thought it was normal or something, even if he did blush like a cherry every time someone caught his eye and waved or smiled.

     It didn't matter what Kentarou thought. No way that kid was a kabuki star.

~//~

     "So in order to find the derivative of the function--" the teacher had been saying when a loud beeping went off. Takeshi looked around, just like Kentarou was doing, for a sign that the Imonoyama Shopping District Association was trying any funny business, but what they saw instead was Sumeragi jumping halfway out of his seat, clutching a beeper.

     He raised his hand and waited for the teacher to say, "What is it?" as if he didn't already have the entire room's attention.

     "I'm sorry. M-may I be excused to use the phone, please?" It was the loudest any of them had ever heard Sumeragi's voice. Kind of squeaky, Takeshi thought, and yet he clearly had the balls to think the right thing to do was ask the teacher for a phone instead of explain that he'd turn the beeper off right away and hope it didn't get confiscated. It was already enough of a miracle that he never had to hold water buckets in the hallway for being late.

     "You can use the one on my desk," the teacher answered, turning Takeshi's eyes into saucers. What the hell kind of pull did this kid have?! Not that he was as obsessed as Kentarou. "Just keep it down, and I'll continue the lesson."

     "Yes, sir."

     Kentarou propped up his textbook and bent down to hide his face while he hissed at Takeshi, " _He has a beeper!!_ " The sound of calculus faded into the distance, since it was already gibberish enough without Kentarou talking at him.

     "I noticed," Takeshi murmured, hiding his mouth behind his hand as if he were just leaning on his arm. You know, like a normal person.

     " _Maybe he's a secret super surgeon!! Doctors have beepers!_ " Kentarou hissed again.

     "He is literally _in high school_." And based on Kentarou's vacant-eyed blinking, he didn't know why that mattered. "High school comes before medical school, you dope."

     "However," Sukiyabashi broke in, nearly making Takeshi jump out of his seat like Sumeragi had, "he does seem to have a profession. I just heard him say, 'So the job is canceled?' into the phone."

     "Wow, you can hear him from there?" Kentarou gasped, almost forgetting to be quiet. "You must have super hearing! Are you some kind of alien?"

     Sukiyabashi slid behind his own book, although Takeshi could feel his stare flicking between the two of them. "N-noooooo... Alien? Why would you think that?"

     "Because he's a dork," Takeshi sighed. "Kentarou, there's no such thing as aliens. Or super secret high school surgeon spy heroes. Okay? I'm sure there's a normal explanation."

     The loud smack of the math teacher's ruler on his desk made Takeshi wish, not for the first time, that he could live a normal school life instead of being wrapped up with these losers. But how could you say no to defending the Earth?

     "Gentlemen, I believe I gave one student permission to talk, not four. All of you will report to my office after school for detention, since there isn't enough time left in this period to punish you."

     "Yes, sir!" they yelled together. Kentarou even saluted. And then the end of class bell rang. So much for getting some extra kendo practice this afternoon.

     Meanwhile, instead of making a beeline for the door as usual, Sumeragi was waiting patiently by the teacher's desk to talk to him one-on-one. As polite as the kid was, there was something weird about the way Sumeragi held himself, like the teacher -- an actual adult -- was his equal instead of his overseer.

     "I see," the teacher said. "Well, I'm sure your afternoon teachers will be pleased to see you." Then he turned to the class. "Everyone, Sumeragi is looking for help finding the cafeteria. Are there any--"

     Before the word, "volunteers," was even a thought in the man's mouth, a solid majority of the hands in the room were up, most of them female, four of them openly gay dudes, one the legally-required class representative (an affirmed lesbian, probably not looking for a date), and none higher than Kentarou's, because no one else was standing on their desk, jumping and screaming, "Me! Me! I'll do it!"

     Okay, so maybe five openly gay dudes. Takeshi wasn't exactly sure how many times Kentarou had proposed marriage to him at this point, but he was getting some serious vibes that his crime-fighting partner might not be 100% straight.

     "Higashikunimaru, get off the desk. Sumeragi, I believe you should have no trouble finding assistance. Enjoy your lunch, everyone."

     Lucky for Sumeragi, Kentarou was a division-winning track star, because the instant the teacher was out the door, the crowd of students wanting to show him the cafeteria descended on him like a mob of zombies, and probably would have consumed the kid alive if Takeshi's other half hadn't gotten there first to shield him. Poor kid. For the entire school year, he'd either shown up for one or two class periods in the morning, just under the bell, and run away like a jet in the afternoon, or he'd missed morning roll-call and slipped in somewhere during post-break classes if he showed up at all. The one time of the day he'd never been in school was over lunch. Everybody who had ever wondered anything about the most mysterious boy (probably a boy) in Class 1-Z now had their first and possibly only opportunity to ask a question. God help the poor bastard.

     "You have nothing to fear," Kentarou told him, striking a classic Duklyon defense pose in front of the understandably taken aback student to keep the throngs of students from approaching. "CLAMP School Def--"

     Running over the desks himself, Takeshi leaped over the crowd and slapped his hand over Kentarou's mouth before he could blow their cover. "Can you just keep your mouth shut for once?!" He shot a grimace at Sumeragi, who was...

     In a classic judo defensive kamae, by instinct if not by intention. The kid looked bewildered at the thought of other students existing who might want to talk to him, which Takeshi had kind of expected, but also like he would be perfectly comfortable flipping a bug-eyed monster five times his size on its head without even looking for power armor first. That shit was not easy, even _with_ power armor. No wonder teachers didn't frighten him.

     Once again, the superhero idea was not as easy to dismiss as Takeshi would have liked.

     "Kentarou, clear a path to the door. I'll take the rear. Sumeragi, you're coming with us. Two defenders of justice to another, we'll make sure you get to the cafeteria in one piece."

     "Huh?! What do you--"

     His partner made some large punching gestures over the crowd. "Make way! CLAMP School Defen--"

     " _Kentarou!_ "

     "Sorry, Takepon! I mean, Class 1-Z medical representatives coming through! This is a mission of mercy! Make way!"

     Takeshi backed his way through the crowd, ignoring the fading cries of, "But you're not taking him to the nurse's office!" and "I wanted to talk to him!" He had one job here, and that was to make sure Sumeragi stayed sandwiched between him and Kentarou where the worst thing that could happen to him was one idiot asking him if he was a kabuki actor, not fifteen students tearing him limb from limb in a frenzy for his limited attention. Whatever Sumeragi was, Takeshi could tell what he wasn't, and that was "good with crowds". Heck, this kind of popularity mass hysteria was usually reserved for people targeting the elementary division student council, and no normal person could handle that.

     Once they got into the hallway, they settled into flanking positions while they jogged alongside the hosta-- that was, alongside Sumeragi, _who was in no way a hostage they were rescuing_ , and it was important to Takeshi that he remember that because Kentarou would never let him live down a slip up. Soon enough, they were able to blend into a crowd who didn't know there was anything odd going on, and finally into line at the cafeteria.

     Where, of course, Kentarou, opened with, "I just want you to know, I am your biggest fan. If I'd known you'd be able to stay for lunch, I would have packed another bento!"

     The weird part, though, was that being told he had fans didn't seem to make this guy confused so much as cringe with embarrassment while he pulled a plate of salad off the conveyor belt of assorted food. "I-it's all right, really. If I could have predicted that our client would need to reschedule, my sister would have packed me a lunch. She's a great cook."

     "See?" Takeshi said, pointing to their classmate. "He has a sister. That's who that girl was."

     "Is she your sister, or ' _your sister_ '?" Kentarou asked, laying vague implication on thicker than the layers of strawberry bushes in the greenhouse.

     "I beg your pardon?" Sumeragi answered. "Hokuto-chan... is my older twin sister. I'm not sure what you--"

     "He's not sure what he means either," said Takeshi, slapping his hand over Kentarou's mouth. "Hi, by the way. I'm Shuukaidou Takeshi, and this loudmouth idiot is Higashikunimaru Kentarou. It's nice to meet you."

     "Likewise. I'm Sumeragi Subaru. And the two of you are the CLAMP School Defenders: Duklyon, I take it?"

     If Takeshi's mouth could have hit the ground any faster, it would've broken the sonic barrier and probably the pavement. And then he had to jump right to shushing Kentarou who was halfway through saying, "We sure are!"

     "Don't say anything! That is a _secret_ ," he hissed at his partner. "And that's, like, the third time you've almost given it up today!"

     Sumeragi covered a gasp with his hand. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that you were supposed to be operating covertly. That was in the files, of course. I should have been more careful."

     "There are _files_ on us?!" Takeshi gasped.

     Clapping a hand on his shoulder, Kentarou shook his head with fake gravity. "I told you he was a super spy, Takepon."

     To his credit, Sumeragi ignored the whole 'spy' thing. "My Grandmother requested a dossier on all the strange events happening at CLAMP Campus because of the Imonoyama Shopping District Association as soon as they began. The school is a very important spiritual site, which my family has sworn to defend for..." He stopped for a breath and swallowed, picking up with a smile that had badly disguised lies and subterfuge written all over it. Well, Takeshi wasn't going to pry. "For reasons. She had to determine that there were no elements of the supernatural involved, and she briefed me on Duklyon's activities and patterns so I would know not to involve myself in matters that are under your jurisdiction. It's an honor to meet the defenders of the peace in person!"

     Takeshi's brain had stalled somewhere between Sumeragi talking about their superheroing like it was normal and... no, really, that was it. Who on Earth would think that the things the General had them doing were unsurprising lunch conversation? And did Sumeragi's Grandmother know the General? Who else knew about Duklyon that they weren't aware of?!

     Kentarou, meanwhile, was headed in a totally different direction. "Wait! Wait! Spiritual centers? Supernatural stuff? So, Sumeragi, that's like... _the Sumeragi Clan_?!"

     "Is there another Sumeragi?" their classmate asked, and not even in the passive aggressive way. He sounded genuinely curious.

     "Oh my gosh! You guys did the site inspection for the building my dad commissioned in Shinjuku last year! No wonder your name sounded familiar!"

     "Higashikunimaru, was it? I remember that case! Your father really is particular about ley lines and lucky directions! It's hard enough finding building sites with conventional zoning issues, but I was amazed at his specificity in terms of esoterica. I'm so glad we were able to purify the property. It was very badly cursed when he purchased it, but I don't think another site in the area would have met his conditions."

     "A curse, huh?! That explains the good price!"

     Glancing back and forth between Kentarou and Sumeragi, Takeshi tried to figure out how they'd gotten from thinking their mystery classmate was a famous kabuki star-slash-government spy to a friendly chat about building inspections that somehow involved Kentarou asking Sumeragi if he'd ever battled a "real live demon".

     "What? N-no! Demons don't really exist," Sumeragi said with the same sweatdropping smile he'd used when he was covering for some big CLAMP School secret before. He was _lying about demons not existing_ , which could only mean one thing. Demons totally existed. And this kid had _totally battled demons_ at some point in the sixteen years he'd been alive. What the _actual fuck_!

     Takeshi smacked Kentarou on the head, because he was an idiot. "Dude! If you knew his family was a bunch of magical, demon-slaying building inspectors, why did you go on and on about him maybe being a kabuki actor?!"

     "Kabuki?" Sumeragi asked. The hamburger he grabbed to eat before they headed to the table looked so mundane for someone who fought demons to be eating, but hey, apparently mystical people liked hamburgers. That was fair. Hamburgers were good.

     "Well, I wouldn't say I _know_ the family. I mean, you guys are pretty secretive," Kentarou said to their classmate, who laughed like any of this was normal. "My family has done business with them, but that didn't mean I was going to assume that any Sumeragi I met was one of _the_ Sumeragi, let alone the head of the clan. That would be like asking any old Fujiwara if was descended from the Minister of the Left and planning to go into politics!"

     "Okay, fine, whatever, but I still don't know who the Sumeragi Clan _are_!"

     Kentarou clasped both his cheeks, abandoning his chair to tower over Takeshi, eyes shining with the usual unshed tears. "Oh, I forgot! You wouldn't know about those things. It must be so hard being poor!"

     "Stop calling me poor! And what does that have to do with knowing what his family does for a living?!"

     Sumeragi looked like he was trying to hide under his hat as he picked up a knife and fork to cut up his hamburger. Takeshi decided it was better not to ask why a demon slayer didn't just take off his gloves and pick the burger up like a regular person. Nobody wore gloves all the time because he wanted to. He wore gloves himself often enough to know that. More importantly, it looked like he wasn't too comfortable with them fighting.

     "Sorry about him, Sumeragi. It's nothing. Anyway, what _do_ you do for a living? You're not actually a building inspector, right? I mean, I figure there's not a huge, important clan for that."

     He had an embarrassed wince as soon as the word, "Important," came out of Takeshi's mouth, but he smiled anyway. "We're a pretty small clan, actually. And, well... I'm an onmyouji."

     Takeshi nearly choked. "You're a _what_? An actual onmyouji?" He thought those only existed in movies and fairy tales! No wonder demon-slaying and curse breaking seemed normal to him. Onmyouji were, if legends could be believed, the kind of mystics who could have gods on their payroll. Was he kidding?!

     "It's only a job, really," said Sumeragi, poking his fork into his salad. And he wasn't even lying or covering for something this time. Totally chill, totally honest... just also wrong.

     Grabbing his shoulders, Kentarou gazed into Takeshi's eyes looking about ready to die of joy. "Did I tell you, Takepon? Or did I _tell_ you?!" Then he pointed around the table at all three of them and whispered, " _Superheroes!_ "

     "You told me," he answered.

     Not because he liked admitting Kentarou was right about anything. Only because a line of their classmates was starting to form where someone had figured out which table was theirs, and agreeing with Kentarou was the fastest way to get his partner to shut the hell up before he mentioned _superheroes_ to somebody whose family _hadn't_ gotten secret dossiers on Duklyon from the General -- and especially before Kentarou tried to organize a _superhero team-up_. Bug-eyed monsters were bad enough. Takeshi was dead certain for no reason he could put a finger on that he wasn't ready for whatever it was Sumeragi Subaru did.


End file.
